Ramana Maharshi Devotee V.S.V.Mani Recollects His Experiences

[Guest guest]

I was born at Madurai in 1924. I had my first darshan of Bhagavan in 1937

when I was just thirteen.

 

Tiruchuzhi Lakshmiammal was there at that time. She had been a playmate of

Bhagavan at Tiruchuzhi. She introduced me to Bhagavan as her relative.

Bhagavan asked me, " O, from Madurai? Which school are you studying in? " I

answered that I was studying in Sethupathi High School. Bhagavan commented,

" Oh! That school is very old. "

 

Lakshmiammal had four sons and Lalita was the daughter of her second son,

Dr. Narayana Iyer. Her first three sons, Ramakrishna Iyer, Narayana Iyer and

Mahadeva Iyer were all Licensed Medical Practitioner doctors, certified from

the Tanjore Medical College. The fourth son, Guruswamy, was a teacher.

 

When Lalita was born in 1926 and brought to the presence of Bhagavan, he

named her Lalita, telling her parents, " You worship Sri Chakra and Sri

Vidya, so name her Lalita. "

 

When we were young Lakshmiammal told my parents that her grand daughter

Lalita and I were made for each other and that we should marry. In 1943 when

I was 19 and she 17 our marriage took place.

 

My wife Lalita was the one who had been with Bhagavan right from her

childhood. Bhagavan taught her cooking, grinding, mixing condiments, making

garlands, etc. He would even play children's games with her. When they were

young, my wife Lalita, Manavasi Ramaswami's daughter, Lalita Venkataraman

and others would play in the Ashram. Bhagavan would sometimes call them, ask

them to come near, and narrate stories to them.

 

We built a new house at Madurai and we went to Ramanasramam and invited

Bhagavan to come and grace our grihapravesam (house warming ceremony).

Bhagavan laughed and pointing to the Hill said, " You make this Annamalai to

come and then I too shall come. "

 

Once when my wife and mother-in-law were assisting Bhagavan in grinding rice

and black gram for the next day iddli preparation, utilizing a mortar,

Lalita said, " Bhagavan you push the flour and I shall grind, " to which

Bhagavan replied, " No Lalita, if I push the flour I may forget myself and

crush my fingers. So you push the flour and follow my grinding. " Casual

utterances like these by Bhagavan were pregnant with meaning. This indicated

his state.

 

When we were there, occasionally Chinnaswami would report to Bhagavan that

the storeroom was almost empty and that he was at a loss for what to do for

the morrow. Bhagavan would advise him not to worry. Then some devotees like

us would bring rice, dhal, provisions, leaf-plates, etc.

 

Once somebody who saw Bhagavan sitting on the sofa in the old hall

commented, " For a sadhu what need is there of a sofa? " Hearing this Bhagavan

smiled and told Lalita, " Look Lalita, am I sitting for my sake on the sofa?

It is for others that I am here. For me, actually, I do not require anything

at all. "

 

 

Bhagavan used to talk to me freely when we were alone. When I was with him

every morning at 4 `o clock he would sometimes tell about his days in the

Arunachala Temple, life on the Hill, etc. His boyhood classmate and

playmate, Vilachery Ranga Iyer, would also tell me about his association

with Bhagavan. He once told me that one day at Madurai while swimming in a

tank he got trapped in the outlet. Bhagavan immediately went and rescued

him. Later on, he would say, " Bhagavan you rescued me once from the tank now

you should rescue me from samsara. " It was usual for boys in those days to

plait their long hair. Once when Venkatoo (son of Chinnaswami) was a child

staying at Skandashram he refused to allow anyone to plait his hair. Then a

snake slowly slithered into the Ashram. Bhagavan just told it to go away and

it obeyed. Turning to the boy, Bhagavan said, " Even the snake obeys. Why

don't you too obey. "

 

Bhagavan used to sit on a raised platform at the entrance to Skandashram

every morning. Around that time of the day visitors from out of town would

usually arrive by rail. Whenever he saw any devotee or devotees climbing up

towards the Ashram he would tell others to prepare extra food for the

newcomers.

 

One of my wife's uncles set up a medical practice near Courtalam and donated

a piece of land to one of the devotees of Bhagavan, named Sivaiya. Sivaiya

established an Ashram there and came to be known as Mouna Swami of

Courtalam. Later hearing that there were herbs on the Arunachala Hill that

would turn base metal into gold he came to Bhagavan and asked about the

herbs. Bhagavan told him, " You are a sannyasi. Why do you want to be an

alchemist? Don't be interested in all these siddhis. They will lead you

astray, " and sent him away.

 

Bhagavan would tell me about the greatness of the Hill — how it is a hill of

effulgence. Just because trees grow on it we should not take it to be an

ordinary hill. He would extol the merits of going round the Hill.

 

In 1946 when we visited the Ashram, we were standing near the newly built

hospital and Bhagavan was returning from the hill after his evening stroll.

When he came near he told my wife Lalita, " You are a doctor's daughter. Your

father and your uncles, Dr. Narayana Iyer, Dr. Mahadeva Iyer, Dr.

Ramakrishna Iyer are all doctors. So go and help in arranging medicines in

dispensary. " Accordingly, my wife and I stayed there for three days and

arranged the medicines.

 

Once when we were taking leave of Bhagavan, he told us to stay for two more

days. We obeyed him and on the next day there was a heavy downpour and part

of the railway track from Villupuram to Trichy was inundated. The trains

were cancelled. Now we understood why Bhagavan wanted us to stay for two

more days.

 

Once when my wife informed Bhagavan that she was going to Tiruchuzhi, he

told her to visit his house, the temple, the primary school where he

studied, the tank where he swam and other places where he used to play, etc.

 

People who come to Bhagavan think that he is just like any other sage and

casually bow to him and go away, but he is Dakshinamurti himself. Whether at

Virupaksha Cave, at Skandashram, in the Old Hall, outside the hall, in the

Jubilee Hall or in the New Hall he always used to sit facing south like

Dakshinamurti. Even while lying down in the Nirvana Room the door was facing

south and he gave us his darshan facing south.

 

When Bhagavan had the tumour on his arm my wife saw the wound and started

sobbing uncontrollably. Bhagavan looked at her and said, " After coming to me

for so long she still doesn't know that it is the body that suffers and not

I. Am I the body? "

 

Source: http://www.arunachala.org/newsletters/2007/?pg=may-jun#article.6

 

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